Colin Kaepernick hails Vernon Davis' arrival at 49ers camp

SANTA CLARA -- Not surprisingly, Colin Kaepernick was among those 49ers excited to see Vernon Davis report to training camp Wednesday and halt a contract holdout.

"Vernon's not the type of person that's going to walk out on his team like that," Kaepernick said.

While the 49ers' marquee tight end returned from his offseason boycott, their starting right guard, Alex Boone, continued his drive for a contract extension and exposed himself to a $30,000 fine for each day he misses.

"Love to have him here, but I'm not going to speak on another man's business," Kaepernick said of Boone. "That's his personal decision."

Like Boone, Davis skipped June's mandatory minicamp and risked $70,000 in fines. Davis was not among the five players made available Wednesday to the media, but after spending recent months marketing his off-field business interests, he did hop on Twitter for more self-promotion Thursday.

"Get ready for a new season and a new superhero. I am #CaptainTorpedo," Davis tweeted, attaching a photo of a "Captain Torpedo" logo without further elaboration.

If Davis puts his head down in torpedo-like fashion and has to play as contracted, he'll make $4.7 million in base salary in 2014. Davis still may want his contract extended beyond 2015, and showing up could help his cause, as the 49ers traditionally don't negotiate if players don't report.

Davis is coming off his second Pro Bowl season. He caught 13 of the 49ers' 21 regular-season touchdown receptions, and he had touchdown grabs in each of their two playoff wins.

"Vernon's still probably the best at his position and still plays at a high level," Gore added. "He's 30, but he still can run like he's 23, 24."

"He's done a lot for this organization, and he's made a lot of great plays for us," Kaepernick said.

Kaepernick doesn't expect "too much of a fall off" for Davis after missing offseason work. But the arrival of the 49ers' starting tight end -- and arguably best deep threat -- allowed for the Day 1 optimism that should accompany any Super Bowl contender.

Kaepernick kept a tight lip when it came to Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman, who's verbally prodded Kaepernick and Michael Crabtree ever since prevailing in the NFC Championship game. Sherman's latest verbal dagger came at ESPN's recent awards show, and it drew an intense stare from Kaepernick in the audience.

Kaepernick declined to fire back at Sherman, stating that's not how the 49ers handle their business. "We get to see him twice this year," Kaepernick said. Those dates: Thanksgiving night at Levi's Stadium and Dec. 14 at Seattle.

Gore, entering his 10th season and final year of his contract, is not approaching this as a farewell season. But he's not ignoring the running back competition, including the additions of Marcus Lattimore and Carlos Hyde.

"It's to get each other better, and I'm up for it," Gore said. "One day they're going to have to get this role, but while I'm here, I'm going to make them challenge."

Tight end Garrett Celek (undisclosed injury) joined linebacker NaVorro Bowman (knee) on the active/physically-unable-to-perform list. "To go without him the first half of the season, he's truly going to be missed," Patrick Willis said of his linebacker sidekick. "I want him to take his time, so that when he comes back, he's ready to go and doesn't have any setbacks."

Wideout Stevie Johnson, limited in offseason workouts by a hamstring strain, passed the conditioning test and looks forward to discovering his old form. "When you come off three straight 1,000 (-yard seasons) and you don't get it the year after that, you feel you have to get better," said Johnson, who had 597 receiving yards last year for the Buffalo Bills.

Cornerback Chris Culliver cleared the conditioning tests and gave a thumbs-up for Thursday's availability at practice, where he'll begin to compete for a starting role. Culliver tore the ACL in his left knee last Aug. 1.